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The Kingdom Under the Mountain(dwarves)
Kingdom of Vahl-Khuduhn Current Royal Family King Rhazkule Azaghaz IV, age 355 Spouse- Queen Kazma, age 345 Deceased 1st son- Khagrim II,age 205 Deceased Only daughter, Belya, age 135 2nd son- Nosgrom, age 155 Current Council Kurzuk, of clan Ghamal. Gurda, of clan Itusul. Ghazkun, of clan Khadar. Kazek, of clan Thurkun. Thazdun, of clan Vrimokh. Ghurzdun, priest of The Faith. Vahl-Khuduhn is ruled by the King and a council made up of a single representative of each clan that lives in the mountain, and a priest to interpret the “will of the gods”. Clans Ghamal,Vrimokh, Khadar, Thurkun, Itusul, and Azaghaz. Whichever Clan the current King is from does not get a council member. Upon the death of each king, a new one is decided through a combination of combat and democracy. One member of each clan is put forward as a candidate, and first a political debate is held, narrowing the candidates down to 2, and then a duel is held and the winner is crowned King. Geography Vahl-Khuduhn is the name of the mountain its people live in and is surrounded by a light forest at the base of the mountain. To the west lies the Sunduban Valley, a highly fertile strip of land between the mountains bordering the sea to the west, and the mountain itself. In the north of the valley lies their temples and places of worship. The center and south of the valley are all fertile, and consist mainly of farms and small trading outposts set up for travelers. A giant wall 30 feet high has been built around the entirety of the Sunduban Valley, made out of stone from the mines near the heart of the mountain. The stone is much harder and more durable than any other stone, nearly as hard as steel. There are two gates on the north and south end of the valley, heavily guarded. They are the only entrances into the valley proper. Foreign Policy Maintains relations with the rulers of the other lands, but is not overly friendly with any. They prefer to keep to themselves unless they or their allies are threatened. Current allies- None Current enemies- None Trade agreements- Wealth- Racial makeup Almost entirely of dwarves, though some other races manage to gain their trust and pass the rigorous trials to prove they are worthy of living among the Dwarven people. Religion They worship several different gods, and have no name for their religion, referring to it only as the Faith. Their chief Deity is Vahl-Khuduhn, the mountain itself. They believe that one day it will awaken, and when it does it will erupt and wipe out the world to begin anew. The Upper Pantheon consists of Morthogal, Lord of the Deep Halls, Sendri, God of the Forge, and Silfe, Sendri’s twin sister, Goddess of Life and the Harvest. Svelzog, God of Death, triplett of Sendri and Silfe. The Lower Pantheon consists of Uror, God of the Rivers, Ysana, Goddess of the sky and good fortune, and Gunteron, God of War and Vengeance. The dwarves are an extremely pious people, offering sacrifices of bulls, gold, gems, and other such things to appease their gods and bring good fortune to the dwarves. While religious, they are not fanatical, and firmly believe the gods have smiled down upon the dwarves. Major exports Precious metals and gems, mined from the mountain itself. Forged Mithril(pre-forged into whatever you want, they don't give out raw Mithril, or the secret on how to forge it) the rarest and most valuable metal in the world. Weapons, armor, other metalworks, stone goods (statues, blocks of stone, catapult ammunition, etc), as well as selling their craftsmanship and artisan skills, being known as some of the finest architects, engineers, and artists in the world. No race can boast that they produce work that surpasses the quality that only dwarves can provide. Culture Just imagine Gimli from LOTR, but an entire race and with some as woman. They enjoy wealth, fighting, and drinking, and deeply love their people and land. They aren't xenophobic, but you have to earn the trust, respect, and friendship of a dwarf. All members of society, even the women, must serve at least 50 years in the Dwarven military, and as such they are a very martial and pragmatic people, always preferring the simplest solution. Magic is fairly prevalent among them, though mainly in the form of earth, stone, and metal magic (shaping it into the form of a chair or weapon or whatever, and making metal and stone Golems and such) and fire magic, with a few healers and other varieties cropping up every few generations. They are very skilled craftsmen and clever inventors, producing the highest quality work at almost everything they do. They have riddled the mountainside with traps and secret entrances, making it impossible to enter anywhere but the main gate, which is made of solid Mithril When shut, the mountain is impregnable, not even a dragon could force its way into Vahl-Khuduhn, or so the dwarves like to brag. Though they are exceptionally talented warriors, they are also excellent scholars, and all children are educated fully in every aspect, including math, science, history, astronomy, and many others. Their main language is dwarvish, which is very guttural sounding and has very few vowels. They learn the languages of every other nation as a child, however. Their appearance can vary widely, their hair being black, grey, red, or even blonde or some other color. Their eyes are mainly solid black, with a variety of colors for pupils, but some have normal eyes. Their skin color ranges from dark grey to pale white, and everything in between. They stand anywhere from 3 feet to 5 feet tall, and weigh 100-250 pounds, with the males usually being much taller and more muscular than the females. They are an exceptionally long lived people, living upwards of 1000 years, and reaching maturity at age 50. History The dwarves have a long and bloody history, spanning countless centuries nearly back to the dawn of Creation itself. As one of the oldest races in existence, if told in its entirety it is highly likely you would die of old age before hearing the end. As such, this will simply be a brief summary of significant time periods in dwarven history. Age of Blood-The Beginning In the beginning, there was darkness and ash. From this darkness, a voice was heard. At the first word, a dwarf sprang up from the earth, strong and proud. As the voice continued to speak, more dwarves began to spawn. At first they were overjoyed to have brethren, smiling and laughing. And then the voice spoke yet again, however this time no dwarves were created. Instead it spoke of glory and great victories yet to come, promising the dwarves immense wealth, honor, and power. Yet only the strongest dwarf could achieve these great things, and so it commanded them to fight. They hesitated at first, unwilling to harm their new kin, but the voice compelled them. And so began the Age of Blood. For countless years the dwarves fought and killed one another, all on the command of their unknown god, until only two remained. A male and a female. These two dwarves were the mightiest and most clever of all those created, and had earned their right to survive and propogate the dwarven species. After it was done, the dwarves had their memory stripped and were cast down to the mortal plane to begin their life anew. Age of Conquest After being cast down, the dwarves found themselves sitting atop a great mountain. Deciding to make it their home, they began to carve out a home deep in the mountains underbelly. Once done, they lived a simple, peaceful life. They had many children, and those children had children, and so on and so forth. Within 1000 years, the dwarves had formed a rather sizable population. Finding themselves growing bored with their peaceful lives, the dwarves began to mount scouting expeditions into the lands around them. Until this point they had done some exploration, but were wary of this new land and what they may find, but now they felt prepared. They soon realized they were not alone in the world, their new home had many denizens including humans, elves, other dwarves, and many strange and fantastical beasts. With this knowledge, the First King, Hrongir Ironbeard, the progenitor to the Azaghaz clan, began his preparations. Within only a few centuries, the dwarves had conquered and subjugated the entire continent, which they decided to name: Kalador. Their empire spanned from sea to sea, from the great mountains of the north to the burning deserts of the south. None could escape their wrath, and all were either killed or enslaved. This was the peak of dwarven power and authority, but it was not to last. Age of Destruction With the newfound wealth and power of their continental empire, the dwarves entered a brief golden age of prosperity. Their coffers were overflowing with gold, and peace reigned supreme across the entire Kaladorian Empire. Small rebellions would pop up every now and again, only to be swiftly and expertly crushed by Hrongir. However, with their rise in wealth and power, they attracted the attention of a most dangerous beast. A great dragon came down from the mountains of the north and laid waste to massive portions of the Empire, causing the entire continent to quake in fear. Hrongir was unafraid however, preparing the great mountain to be sieged by the dragon. When the dragon came, the dwarves were ready. A massive battle was fought, lasting for nearly a month. The dwarves suffered heavy losses, but emerged victorious in the end. They did not manage to slay the dragon, but they did drive it back to the mountains from whence it came. This left the dwarves severely weakened however, and many rebellions sprang up to take advantage of this fact. This led to conflict and bloodshed that lasted for centuries. Furious at seeing his life's work undone by the great winged wyrm, Hrongir swore a blood oath to Morthogal that the dragon would die by his hand. Overcome by the thought of vengeance, Hrongir abandoned his people, taking a small but elite fighting force north to give chase to the dragon. After many years, the dwarven empire was forced to sign a treaty splitting apart their land, diving Kalador into many nations once again. Hrongir was nowhere to be seen. Age of Retribution As the war was being fought in the south, Hrongir and his company of elite soldiers chased the dragon north into the mountains. They traveled through inhospitable lands, nearly dying to the elements and monstrous beasts that dwelled within the mountains. After years of searching however, they at last found their quarry. In a battle fit for the most glorious of songs, Hrongir and his men fought and slayed the great beast, only to discover that there were many more dragons within the depths of the mountains. Fearing they would venture south like their slain kin, Hrongir and his men vowed to kill them all. It took many years, but eventually they were successful. They had exterminated every dragon on the continent of Kalador. As proof and as trophies of their kills, Hrongir took scales, bones, and teeth from every dragon they killed. When Hrongir returned, he was greeted as a hero by his people. He was given the name Hrongir Wyrmslayer, of the Azaghaz clan. He was immensely angry to find his empire in shambles, vowing to restore it to its former glory. Using the salvaged pieces of the slain dragons, he forged a fearsome suit of armor and dual war axes from the bones, teeth, and hide, mixed with a rare metal from deep in the heart of the mountain. He then set to work rebuilding the dwarven army, as well as teaching them many tricks and strategies for hunting beasts dragonsand after centuries of laying idle the dwarves swarmed out from their mountain like locusts, consuming and conquering the continent once again. Age of Exploration With the continent securely under their control once more, the dwarves then focused on learning more of the rest of the world. They sent out expeditions in every direction, even across the seas, and mapped out the world. They discovered another continent far across the ocean, deciding to bring the glory of Morthogal to this new land. They spent many years building a great fleet, preparing their troops and people for the journey across the water. However, shortly before their scheduled departure a massive natural disaster occurred. The massive volcano in the Great desert of the East erupted, covering the land in smoke and ash. Forced with making a choice between staying on their doomed continent or making the journey across the sea, the dwarves chose to flee and survive. They abandoned Kalador to its fate, along with the other races. Age of Rebirth Upon arriving in the New World, they found it much like Kalador when they had first arrived to the mortal plane. Primitive people in loosely organized tribes, no real civilization to speak of. Normally they would have attempted to conquer this continentEvandria as well, but they viewed the destruction of Kalador as punishment for their hubris and greed, choosing instead to settle within a massive mountain near the coast, similar to their original home. From there they watched as the humans and other races evolved and grew, helping to guide their growth and prosperity. Always remembering their past, they never forgot how the dragon razed their empire and nearly destroyed them, and so they continued to practice the tactics and skills Hrongir taught them. Now humbled by their past, the dwarves have remained reserved and relatively peaceful, only entering conflict when absolutely necessary, or when given a vision by their Archbishop of the Faith.